The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

The author of the principle report exposing abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq testifies in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Maj. General Antonio M. Taguba, who was appointed to investigate allegations of abuses at the prison in January 2004, told Congress that the mistreatment resulted from faulty leadership, a "lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision" of the troops. "A few soldiers and civilians conspired to abuse and conduct egregious acts of violence against detainees and other civilians outside the bounds of international laws and the Geneva Convention," Taguba told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Taguba also left open the possibility that Central Intelligence Agency personnel as well as civilian contractors were potentially responsible for committing abuses as well.

And in an ABCNEWS exclusive — More than a year before 9/11, CIA officials prevented an FBI agent working with the CIA from passing vital information to his agency on two suspected al Qaeda members — men who later would become Sept. 11 hijackers.

THE WAR IN IRAQ

Army General Says Abuse Resulted From Faulty Leadership
The Army general who first investigated prisoner abuse in an Iraqi prison told Congress on Tuesday the mistreatment resulted from faulty leadership, a "lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision" of the troops. (Washington Post)

Head of Inquiry on Iraq Abuses Now in Spotlight

The report on abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba completed in March was shaped by his vision of the Army as a noble calling. (NY Times)

Iran Has Evidence of Worse Abuses in Iraq

Iran said on Monday it had obtained documents showing the abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S.-led forces was far worse and had been going on much longer than has so far come to light. (Reuters)

Focus Shifts From Military Police to Intelligence

A Senate hearing on the burgeoning Iraq prison abuse scandal will swing the spotlight today from the military police who committed the alleged offenses to the military intelligence community that oversaw them. (Washington Post)

Red Cross convinced its quiet approach in dealing with prisoners in Iraq is best. (AP)

U.S. Works to Calm Prisoner Abuse Fallout

Americans can expect more shocking photos and searing public debate as the Bush administration works to calm the firestorm over U.S. soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners. (AP)

Sadr to Widen War After U.S. Bombs Baghdad

Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr ordered his Mehdi Army yesterday to launch a broad new offensive against US-led occupying forces following a US crackdown on his strongholds in Baghdad and across the south. (Arab News)

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

U.S.

Agent Tried to Give 9/11 Info to FBI
An FBI agent tried to sound a warning about two of the 9/11 hijackers, but the CIA wouldn't let him circulate the information, ABCNEWS has learned. (ABCNEWS)

Ex-Terror Suspect is Free On Bond

Moroccan immigrant must wear tether and live in halfway house. (Detroit News)

Federal Web Sites That May Aid Terrorists

Rand Corp. researchers preparing a study for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency found four federal government Web sites they believed might aid terrorists enough to warrant restricting public access to them. All four have been restricted. (AP)

Pakistan

Tribals 'To Act Against Al Qaeda'

Tribesmen in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan say they will raise a force of 1,800 armed men to capture suspected al Qaeda militants. (BBC)

Madrid

Madrid Suspects Tried to Call Jailed Cleric -Report

Islamic militants believed to have carried out the Madrid train bombings tried to telephone a jailed radical Muslim cleric in Britain before they blew themselves up last month, Spanish news reports said on Monday. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia
Al Muqrin Praises the Yanbu Atttack

The alleged leader of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Abdel Aziz al Muqrin, praised the attack in Saudi Arabia's oil city of Yanbu on May 1st, which killed two Americans, two Britons and an Australian. His remarks came in the opening editorial of the 16th issue of Sot Al Jihad, a bi-weekly magazine published online by the "mujhaeddin in the Arab's Peninsula." Al Muqrin referred to four who carried out the attack and were killed in the shootings as "martyrs" and "heroes" and said they planned the attack and executed it well, thereby "fulfilling their promise to us." He also commended the choice of the target, because "it's a base for many Western oil companies. (ABCNEWS Investigative Unit)

Officials fear that the area from the Horn of Africa to the Western Sahara's Atlantic coast could become Al Qaeda's next base. (NY Times)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

Spain

Moroccan Charged in Madrid Terror Attack

A Moroccan construction worker whose telephone number was found in the apartment where suspects in the Madrid terror bombings blew themselves up was jailed Monday night, charged with collaborating with a terrorist group, officials at the National Court said. (AP)

One accused US female soldier is claiming that no one told her about the Geneva Convention. Gee. As a defense, this ranks just below the fellow who murdered his parents and then asked for leniency because he was an orphan. That soldier and her guilty colleagues have defouled and dishonored a great army, a great nation and a noble cause. (The Independent)

In early 2003, I lectured to army reservists at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, the center for army intelligence in the United States and the training facility for the army's interrogators. (Daily Star — Lebanon)

PR Mess from an Honourable Mission
Mistreatment of prisoners does not negate the rightness of the U.S. campaign in Iraq. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Bush's Narrow Audience

Long before most Americans had ever heard of Abu Ghraib prison, the U.S. effort in Iraq was stumbling. There were too few troops to support an occupation, and the United States was getting too little help from other nations while paying too little attention to Shiite radicals. (LA Times)

Rumsfeld's Apology

The Bush war's legitimacy is questioned. (Asahi Shimbun — Japan)

Getting Out of a Quagmire

It's not clear anymore that there is a plausible way to turn the Bush administration's disastrous policy in Iraq into anything that would look remotely like success. (Washington Post)

Heroes in Error

Chances of Mr. Chalabi in presiding Iraq have declined. (Al Hayat)

Playing Bin Laden's Game

The west is losing the war on terror on a global scale. Only if Britain takes an independent line can we protect our security. (The Guardian)

Terror Year that Changed the Face of Saudi Arabia

Terror sets new agenda, lexicon as government mobilizes nation against the enemy from within. (Middle East Online)

The Insider Daily Terrorism Report (DTR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to international terrorism and the war in Iraq. The DTR is edited from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman, and Brinda Adhikari of the ABCNEWS Investigative Unit. The outside views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.